Big Pete and the Swede. Two miners, made rich by their excavation of the asteroid belt. Maggie, Dolores and Aramintha. Three women, making a living in the Viridian System any way they can, and mostly with miners. It’s a long way from anywhere, and especially from the domineering Imperium and their foes, the Federation.

Our miners have secret destinies, secret from each other, and even themselves. So who’s leaving the strange messages that lead the five of them to a planet with an oracle?

Kidnap, archaeology, imperial politics, and a chase from the centre of the galaxy to its very extremes… and five pieces of a legendary weapon scattered around the galaxy.

When the Brightstar family leaves fog-shrouded and predictable Mira III for Cyraria they have no idea their comfortable lifestyle is about to end forever. Sharra denies it, trusting their fate to her indomitable bondling, Laren. Teenage daughter, Creena, welcomes it as a desirable change from Mira III’s restrictions. Her older brother, Dirck, resists it, unhappy to leave his friends and ordered existence, while young Deven accepts it, anticipating new and exciting adventures.

Only Laren understands the risks that lie ahead, but even he is shaken when long before the starcruiser arrives shocking events transpire that threaten to change everyone’s life forever. He soon discovers that his ruthless and power-hungry nemesis, Augustus Troy, plans to exploit their situation to promote his own selfish ambitions. Formidable and lethal challenges await as increasingly suspicious circumstances scatter them across the galaxy, each wondering if they’ll survive long enough to be reunited ever again.

Targeted Age Group:: 14 – Adult

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I’ve always loved writing and science fiction in any form whether books, movies or television. I have to admit that probably the original premise for this story originated with the original “Star Wars,” specifically when C3PO and R2D2 got jettisoned in the escape pod. As the mother of six children I could somehow see a kid managing to get him or herself in a similar situation. Squabbling siblings was a natural trigger, being as I was surrounded by them on a regular basis. Then, of course you have what the other kids think of the situation plus what the parents are going through. Factor in all the hazards related to space travel such as relativity messing with time, the space environment itself, environmentally hostile planets, including the one they were moving to, and of course a ruthless villain who exploits the entire situation and pretty soon you have an entire series.

Who are your favorite authors?
I love a book that keeps me in suspense, the more the better. I actually had to stop reading books by Tom Clancy, John Grisham and Michael Crichton when I was working fulltime at NASA because I had a tendency to get sucked into a story and not come up for air until I was finished which could have harsh consequences when I had to be in the office bright and early the next day. My favorite science fiction author is Catherine Asaro. I love her characters and since she’s also a PhD physicist she incorporates awesome science into the stories as well. I read a lot of nonfiction as well with Dean Radin, Robert Lanza and Marie D. Jones amongst my favorites in their respective subjects. I’ve always been a bibliophile and have books galore on all sorts of subjects. While I have a Kindle I still prefer an actual book where I can dog-ear pages and highlight my favorite parts, especially if I’m researching something for an article, blog or lecture.